Burglaries from homes in England and Wales increased by 14% throughout the year 2010-11 based on the British Crime Survey. This rise will be stressing for homeowners, as being the unwilling recipient of burglary can be very distressing and expensive. If your home is burgled it really is worth following these 10 simple steps. They’ll enable you to deal with a burglary as well as make a profitable insurance policy claim with a loss assessor.
1. In the event that you have been burgled, always call the authorities right away.You need their documents as proof to process a claim in many cases.
2. Call law enforcement from a mobile or from the neighbour’s home if you think the burglars might still be inside your property.
3. Do not try to clean up till after the cops have been and finished their investigations. They are likely to send specialist officers who will take photographs and look for fingerprints, so it’s important to protect as much evidence as you can. They will also give you a crime number, which you’ll need when making your insurance claim.
4. Look at your home thoroughly for missing and broken merchandise. Draw up a list of everything and then try to include makes, models and serial numbers if you can. It’s also useful to include any kind of purchase invoices if you have them.
5. Burglars often look for bank and credit cards. If yours have been stolen be sure to call your bank’s emergency numbers and have all of them cancelled. These services are usually accessible 24-hours a day, 365 days a year so there’s no need to wait until office hours.
6. Check if any other essential paperwork are absent, like your current passport or driving license. Should they be then you’ll need to contact the relevant authorities. To find the contact details it’s worth searching online for the best numbers to call.
7. Speak to your insurers and let them know about your burglary. Don’t forget to have your crime number to hand when you contact. They’ll then start your insurance claim.
8. If the police have finished their enquiries, your own insurance company may set up to board up any shattered home windows or replace damaged locks. If your policy doesn’t include this particular emergency cover, you will have to arrange this on you own. As always you need to use trustworthy tradespeople, to find websites such as Checkatrade useful, where you can study reviews of their service left by some other clients in your local area.
9. Contact professional insurance loss assessors. If required, they can offer help by providing authorized contractors and locksmiths in order to secure your property. They’ll additionally help you make an extensive list of all of your stolen & damaged possessions. They will then fully handle your case throughout your claim, helping to make sure that you get a complete and acceptable pay out out of your insurers.
10. Lastly, review your protection arrangements. If you haven’t already, consider fitting locks to your windows and security bolts on your doors. You could also think about installing a burglar alarm.